A person who has been seriously injured in an accident or from a sudden illness is usually initially attended by paramedics or ambulance crews and transported on a conventional stretcher, mobile bed or spine boards to an emergency room facility where necessary medical treatment can be rendered. Upon arrival at the emergency room facility the patient is generally transferred from the stretcher or mobile bed to an emergency room examining table, then to an x-ray table, back again to the emergency room examining table, and then possibly to a regular hospital bed. This constant movement of the patient can aggravate an injury, such as a suspected spinal injury, and even possibly cause additional injuries. While the immobilization of a patient at the scene of the trauma is generally recognized as a desirable course of action, it should be recognized that the high mortality rate occurring in emergency room facilities can be attributed, at least in part, to the repeated transfer of the patient through various diagnostic procedures on several support structures in lieu of maintaining the patient in an immobilized condition throughout on a single support structure. It is desirable to essentially immobilize the patient from the time that the patient is first placed on the support structure until after x-rays are taken so that the injury will not be further aggravated.
In researching spine boards presently used in the industry, a great shortcoming in such boards was found after the patient arrives at the hospital emergency room. Upon the patient's arrival, it is most important that the severity of injuries, particularly suspected spinal injuries, be immediately assessed. Presently this is normally achieved by one of three methods, namely, the transportation of the patient directly to the radiology department of the hospital; the transportation of the patient to the emergency room x-ray room if the hospital is so equipped; or in most cases, the patient is physically lifted to place an x-ray cassette under the patient, and a portable x-ray machine is used to perform lateral and anterior-posterior spinal examinations. The latter or most common method appears to be favored in that it is quick and convenient, however such method places the patient at greater risk of being jostled, or worse, being dropped, and also places physical stress on attending nurses and radiologic technologists. Other problems associated with this preferred method include distorted images due to poor cassette placement, which can lead to undiagnosed radiographs and retakes which result in unnecessary radiation exposure to both the patient and emergency room personnel.
Various devices have been proposed and used for immobilizing and transporting trauma victims with a minimum of body movement. The most commonly used transport device is a simple flat board; however, many more complex transport devices can be and have been used. Although these devices are adequate for transporting the patient from the trauma scene to the hospital emergency room, they create a problem when x-rays must be made of the patient since movement of the patient will be required to either transfer the patient from the transport device to the x-ray table or to insert an x-ray film under the patient while still on the transport device. Since many of these transport devices are made of material which contain artifacts or imperfections which might cause inaccurate x-ray readings, they should not be used in the taking of x-rays of the patient while being supported thereon.
Other problems associated with existing spine boards for rescuing trauma victims include splintering plywood which could prove to be dangerous, small runners, or no runners whatsoever, on the bottom of the board to allow for a firm grip during lifting, and an inadequate number of hand hold openings for grasping and for use in securing and adjusting straps for restraining the trauma victim upon the spine board. Many of the presently available spine boards are made of aluminum which hinders the incorporation of a floatation medium which is vital in the rescue of victims of water related accidents.
It is therefore desirable to provide an emergency spinal board for immobilizing and transporting a person from a trauma scene to an emergency room facility and which permits x-ray examination without further movement of the person from the spinal board and without interfering with the quality of the x-ray.
A search of the public records produced a limited number of combination stretchers and portable x-ray tables including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,193,148; 4,651,364; 4,893,323; 4,926,457; and 4,947,418. None of these reference, either singly or in combination, show or suggest the present invention.
The present invention overcomes the numerous shortcomings and disadvantages of prior art devices and procedures by incorporating a cassette holder on the bottom side of the spine board which allows a radiologic technologist or other medical personnel to insert an x-ray cassette therein. The present invention further eliminates other problems associated with existing spine boards by providing a board of molded plastic construction which eliminates splintering and staining, by providing perimeter handles and slightly higher runners which raises the spine board and allows for grasping at any point along the spine board and linear adjustability of the restraining straps, and the provision of a floatation medium which makes the spine board buoyant which is critical in the rescue of water related accident victims.